CLASSIC JAPANESE LITERATURE

This is one of the characterizing subjects within the "Japan" curriculum of the graduate course in "Lingue e Culture dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea".
The course contributes to the attainment of the teaching goals of the graduate course in the area of language skills and includes also the more specific goals of the cultural and humanities areas.
The main objectives of the course are: 1) to acquire a foundational knowledge of Japanese premodern literature’s genres, literary techniques, and historical development; 2) to develop critical thinking skills through textual, historical, and socio-cultural analysis, through a variety of activities including close reading, class discussion, and longer written analyses; 3) to gain competencies in situating literature in its socio-cultural, political, ideological,
and historical context, and in critically assessing the relationship between works of literature produced in different periods; 4) to acquire useful tools to conduct bibliographic research and work independently on different topics of Japanese premodern literature ; 5) to learn how to write an academic essay.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know and understand the main authors and works of Japanese premodern literature
- to know and understand concepts and tools from the fields of literary criticism and historiography
- to deepen the knowledge and understanding of historical contexts through the analysis of literary texts
- to know useful tools to conduct independently bibliographic research

Applying knowledge and understanding:
- to analyze and interpret literary texts by using concepts and tools from the fields of literary criticism and historiography
- to critically apply concepts from literary historiography to the historical period studied in the course
- to use bibliographic references in different languages (included Japanese)
- to conduct new and interdisciplinary researches

Making judgements:
- to produce critical judgments on the textual and historical-literary phenomena that are part of the program
- to subject various types of sources (academic and creative texts) to critical examination
- to develop original and innovative theories on the topics introduced during the lessons

Communication:
- to express one's opinion in an effective way
- to re-elaborate and express in an effective way the opinions of other people
- to write independently an academic essays on Japanese premodern literature
- to analyze and translate texts written in Classical Japanese

Lifelong learning skills:
- to know how to conduct bibliographic research
- to know how to critically integrate the study of different materials (notes, slides, manuals, creative texts, academic articles)
- to be able to read and re-elaborate in a synthetic way materials written in different languages
- to refine one's ability to use the online teaching platform
- to know how to write an academic essay in an effective way

A solid knowledge of Japanese political and social history from the eight to thirteenth century. Good command of classical and modern Japanese.

How was love represented in Japanese literature before the modern era? What images, emotions, and poetic strategies were used to express human feelings across the centuries? Through the close reading and analysis of some of the most celebrated poems in the Japanese literary tradition, this course offers a journey through love poetry from the eighth to the thirteenth century, focusing in particular on three major poetic anthologies: the Man’yōshū, the Kokinwakashū, and the Shinkokin wakashū.
Students will have the opportunity to develop advanced translation skills, with particular attention to both classical and modern Japanese, while refining their ability to apply philological and critical methods to literary texts. At the same time, the course provides an introduction to academic research practices. Students will learn how to conduct targeted bibliographical research, navigate major academic databases and the websites of leading national and international libraries, and critically evaluate scholarly sources.
The instructor will guide students through the entire process, from reading and interpreting literary texts to writing a short academic essay, illustrating the various stages of academic writing and the proper use of commonly adopted scholarly conventions and citation practices.
By the end of the course, students will have acquired solid linguistic and methodological skills, as well as a deeper understanding of Japanese love poetry during the period under consideration and its broader historical, cultural, and literary contexts.

-Brower Robert H., Miner Earl, Japanese Court Poetry, Stanford, Stanford University press, 1961
-Carter Steven, D., How to read a Japanese Poem, New York, Columbia University Press, 2019
-Cranston Edwin A., “The Dark Path: Images of Longing in Japanese Love Poetry”, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, XXXV, 1975, pp. 60-100
-Heldt Gustav, The Pursuit of Harmony, Poetry and Power in Early Heian Japan, Ithaca (New York), Cornell University Press, 2008
-Gerlini Edoardo (a cura di), Antologia della poesia giapponese. Dai canti antichi allo splendore della poesia di corte (VIII-XII secolo), Venezia, Marsilio Editori, 2021
-Giordano Giuseppe, La natura in versi. La flora e la fauna nella poesia giapponese, Roma, Aracne, 2021
-Mostow Joshua S., “Sex in Heian-kyō (Kyoto) in the Tenth through Twelfth Centuries centuries”, in Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks and Mathew Kuefler (eds.) The Cambridge World History of Sexuality, vol. III Sites of Knowledge and Practices, Cambridge University Press, 2024
-Negri Carolina, “Immagini d’acqua nelle poesie d’amore del Kokinwakashū”, in Carolina Negri, Giusi Tamburello (a cura di), “L’acqua non è mai la stessa”. Le acque nella tradizione culturale dell’Asia, Aquae. Studi e testi sulle terme, II, Firenze, Olschki, 2009, pp. 155-168
-Negri Carolina, “Onna no yobai. Donne intraprendenti nell’antico Giappone”, Quaderni Asiatici, n. 118, 2017, pp. 77-99
-Persiani Gianpiero, Poets, Patrons, and the Public: Poetry as Cultural Phenomenon in Courtly Japan, Leiden, Brill, 2025
-Raud Rain, “The Lover’s Subject: Its Construction and Relativization in the Waka Poetry of the Heian Period”, Eji Sekine (ed.), PMAJS 5. Love and Sexuality in Japanese Literature, 1999, pp. 65-78
-Shirane Haruo, Japan and the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature and the Arts, New York, Columbia University Press, 2012
-Walker Janet A., “Convention of Love Poetry in Japan and the West”, The Journal of Teachers of Japanese, XIV (1), 1979, pp. 31-65
-Zanotti Pierantonio, Introduzione alla storia della poesia giapponese. Dalle origini all’Ottocento, Venezia, Marsilio, 2012

* For the original-language texts provided by the instructor on the Moodle platform, reference will be made to the annotated bilingual editions of the Man’yōshū, Kokinwakashū, and Shinkokinwakashū included in the Shin Nihon koten bungaku zenshū series published by Shogakukan.

The achievement of the objectives of the course will be verified as follows:
a) Evaluation of a short essay (max 3000 words, 50% of the final mark) focusing on the analysis of one of the topics discussed during the class. The essay submitted one week before the oral exam will be graded considering the following three aspects: 1) quality and completeness of bibliography (including also references in Japanese); 2) clarity of presentation and ability to organize an organic and coherent critical analysis; 3) accuracy in writing bibliographic references.
b) Evaluation of an interview (50% of the final mark). The Interview (about 30 minutes) includes 3 parts: 1) discussion on the essay submitted; 2) critical discussion on the contents of 2 articles / chapters included in the "referral texts"; 3) translation and analysis of one quotation from a work written in classical Japanese introduced during the class.

written and oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Regarding the grading scale, scores will be assigned according to the following criteria:
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded for a sufficient knowledge of the authors of Japanese Classical literature introduced in class and a sufficient ability to perform critical and philological analysis of the selected texts.
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded for a fair knowledge of the authors of Japanese Classical literature introduced in class and a fair ability to perform critical and philological analysis of the selected texts.
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded for a good or excellent knowledge of the authors of Japanese Classical literature introduced in class and a good or excellent ability to perform critical and philological analysis of the selected texts.
D. Honors will be awarded for an outstanding knowledge of the authors of Japanese Classical literature introduced in class and an outstanding ability to perform critical and philological analysis of the selected texts.

Frontal Lessons with Power Point presentations